Cloud computing company hits new fundraising heights

A Halifax cloud computing startup has raised $1.1 million to advance its file-sharing technology and expand into new markets.

TitanFile Inc.’s latest round of fundraising is backed by Innovacorp, the provincial government’s high-tech funding body, the First Angel Network, and a handful of private donors.

The fledgling firm, which specializes in encrypting data to help organizations and individuals share documents securely over the Internet, has diluted its shares by 30 per cent as a result of the financing.

Co-founder and chief executive Milan Vrekic, 27, said the cash will help the startup break into the lucrative United States market with its latest technology.

“We want to hire more people in the marketing and sales side and expand our U.S. presence,” he said an interview Wednesday, noting that TitanFile’s key clientele are professionals such as lawyers, accountants and investment bankers in the Boston and New York areas.

TitanFile was selected by two of Atlantic Canada’s largest law ﬁrms, McInnes Cooper and Stewart McKelvey, as a secure communication solution with their clients, he said.

“Professionals can now communicate with clients and colleagues without worrying about privacy and security, while avoiding the complexity of traditional enterprise solutions,” said co-founder and chief technology officer Tony Abou-Assaleh, a former Google engineer.

The cloud computing company has three employees in its Nova Scotia office and another two in its satellite office in Waterloo, Ont.

The company has its Canadian data centre in Halifax, which helps clients comply with Canadian rules about information shared over the web.

Vrekic said he hopes to double the workforce over the next year, either by adding staff in the Halifax location or opening a new office in the U.S.

The company’s latest product helps customers group their contacts into real-time communication channels and then add encrypted files into those channels.

TitanFile works on multiple devices, including personal computers and tablets.

Unlike similar products, TitanFile customers do not need to install special plug-ins, conﬁgure computers, or add custom hardware.